Atmel® Corporation
is proud to announce its contribution to the European Space
Agency’s Rosetta mission. The satellite was successfully launched on
March 2, 2004 by ArianeV, taking along Atmel’s family of TH78xx CCD imaging
chips. After a 10-year travel period, Rosetta will reach and observe the
Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet.

Among other exploratory equipment, Rosetta includes a spectroscope built
by Italy’s Galileo Avionica, in which Atmel’s 1-million pixel full-frame area
array CCD (TH7896M) is embedded to analyze the UV to near infrared spectrum.
This particular CCD is partially coated with a UV layer and sealed with a
special quartz window.

A lander will make a 360-degree survey of the comet’s surface thanks to
six micro-cameras built by Switzerland’s Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de
Microtechnique (CSEM) with compact and rugged technology developed by the
French company 3D+. Each camera incorporates Atmel’s 1-million pixel frame
transfer area array CCD (TH7888A) with an anti-blooming feature.

“This project is very exciting,” said Jean-Philippe Lamarcq, Atmel’s
Professional Imaging Director. “We were selected to take part for our high
performance devices and our previous involvements in space projects, such as
Clementine, the first U.S. micro satellite. The fundamentals of this mission
were quite unusual: the chips were to withstand a 10-year storage period and
an operating temperature of -120-degree Celsius. We were required to adapt
the environmental and electro-optical test conditions as well as qualify a
device with a special UV coating and non-standard sealing. Having met these
challenges, Atmel has certainly demonstrated that its CCDs are capable of
withstanding severe environmental constraints while maintaining high
performance.”

During its 25-year involvement in space imaging projects, Atmel has
developed many linear arrays, Time Delay Integration (TDI) CCDs for
high-resolution observation of the Earth and other planets. The company has
also developed rad-tolerant area arrays for star sensors and contributed to
many scientific missions by up-screening image sensors from its standard
product list.

Atmel will continue to serve space-related projects by offering image
sensors with state-of-the art performance, high reliability and long-term
availability, in close cooperation with the company’s worldwide customers.

Join us in 10 years’ time for the results of these observations.

About Atmel

Founded in 1984, Atmel Corporation is headquartered in San Jose,
California, with manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe. Atmel
designs, manufactures and markets worldwide, advanced logic, mixed-signal,
nonvolatile memory and RF semiconductors. Atmel is also a leading provider of
system-level integration semiconductor solutions using CMOS, BiCMOS, SiGe and
high-voltage BCDMOS process technologies.

NOTE: Atmel, the Atmel logo and combinations thereof are registered
trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product
names in this document may be the trademarks of others.

Information:

For more information on Atmel’s CCDs, go to:
http://www.atmel.com/products/CCD/
Press Contacts:

Sylvie Mattei, Communication Manager, Atmel Grenoble

Tel: +33 4 76 58 30 25, e-mail sylvie.mattei@gfo.atmel.com
Veronique Sablereau, Corporate Communications Manager – Europe

Tel: +33 1 30 60 70 68, e-mail veronique.sablereau@atmel.com
Clive Over, Director of Public Relations – USA and Asia

Tel: +1-408-451-2855, e-mail cliveover@atmel.com